Two (And More!) Great Cartoons

I found two great cartoons while browsing through some of the links on BoingBoing today. One of them was the classic One Froggy Evening, the cartoon that introduced Michigan J. Frog on a public replete with malaise, begging for something new. It's a great short: wonderful animation, terrific story, a subtlety to the artwork that's likely lost on the children it targets, and it's all done with no dialog. If there were ever a case to be made that modern animation suffers, this would be Exhibit A. Case Closed!

But more importantly, I found Tree for Two, the cartoon pictured above. The Big Cartoon Forum lists this as a significant Sylvester cartoon, but for me it's so much more.

I used to have this cartoon on betamax. And, not surprisingly to anyone who knows me, I used to watch it constantly. And, not surprisingly to anyone that knows me, I knew all the parts of this cartoon: the dialog, the comedic timing, the flaws in the tape -- all the nuances you pick up with repeated viewings. Then, one day, my mom taped over this cartoon with Another World, or something equally crappy, and I was distraught, thinking I would never see it again. It wasn't that I loved this cartoon so much, but because there was a small piece in it that I'm positive slipped right past the censors. And I don't want to ruin this cartoon for anyone, but once I tell you it'll be stuck in your brain forever, like the arrow in the Fed Ex logo. But at the same time, I've been waiting since my teens to show this to someone! So, with my humblest apologies to Sylvester fans the world over, here it is:

At 1:48 into the cartoon Sylvester quite clearly says "What the fuck". Now it might be a coincidence. But it's clear as day. And, hilariously, somewhat appropriate to the situation.

The BoingBoing post references Cityrag as compiling a video list for the 50 greatest cartoons of all time, and it's definitely worth a look. Funny how it hadn't occurred to me to look for cartoons on YouTube before now -- but this should not come surprisingly to anyone who knows me.

Link to One Froggy Evening
Link to Tree for Two
Link to 50 greatest cartoons on Wikipedia
Link to 50 greatest cartoon video list on Cityrag (via BoingBoing)